Giving In to Temptation

Some diet experts suggest that depriving oneself of favorite foods can be self-defeating, since the craving may intensify. Now, a study of 24 nonobese people at the State University of New York at Buffalo has found that eating a preferred snack every day reduces its appeal. The volunteers earned points in a computer game to win their snack of choice; if they wanted more, they needed progressively more points. After two weeks of eating an allotment of the snack daily, the participants were less inclined to work for food points than they were after two weeks of abstaining from it, and they said they liked the food less. The study authors, led by Jennifer L. Temple, advise dieters to have a small amount of a favorite food while cutting calories on foods they can more easily live without.